Apparatus for mining.



PATENTED 00T. 1'7, 1905.

R. BAGGALEY.

APPARATUS FOR MINING.

APPLICATION FILED 1mm. 1904.

WLM/momo iur RALPH BAGGALEY, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

APPARATUS FOR MENING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 1'?, 1905.

Original application led May 25, 1904, Serial No. 209,622. Divided andthis application filed December 5, 1904. Serial No. 235,417.

Be it known that I, RALPH BAGGALEY, of Pittsburg', in the county ofAllegheny, in the State of Pennsylvania, have invented new and usefulApparatus for Mining, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription, reference being had to the accompanying drawing.

This application is a division of my former application filed May 25,1904, Serial No. 209,622, for a method of mining.

In the drawing the figure represents a cross-section of an upraiseormanway on a mineralwein from the main level of the undcrground workings.

The object of my invention is to cheapen the cost of producing ore frommineral-veins in shaft mines in districts to which the apparatus isapplicable.

Before actual mining' commences I sink working shafts, preferably to agreat depthsay to two thousand feetW-on which level all subsequentworking is conducted until after all the mineral values have beenextracted from all the veins that lie above that level. In lieu oftimbering I preferably use doublescrew jacks 2 and timber blocks totemporarily support the ore roof of the workings during miningoperations, and these devices, while expensive in first cost, may beused contin uously. As underground developments progress in this methodof mining exact surveys and maps are continually maintained, whichaccurately represent the location of such underground workings, and bymeans of these maps l :from time to time drill holes BAsay from four toten inches in diameter"d from the surface down to such point or pointsunderground and to such level or levels underground where ore stoping isin progress. When such a hole has been thus drilled from the surfacedown to a point where stoping is in progress, I preferably line it witha light metal tube or casing 4, and thereafter I deliver the fillingmaterial through this tube from the surface by gravity to the level onwhich mining-work is in progress. This material may consist of sand,gravel, clay or dirt of any kind, crushed rock, and similar substances;but my preference is to utilize granulated or cracked slag, because inthis manner I may be enabled to remove the ores continuously from theunderground workings, extract all of the mineral values from them withgreat economy, granulate the resulting slags, and thereafter restore itin vitrilied form to 'the underground workings.

It is a well.- known fact in the Butte district, as well as in manyother sections where smelting operations are conducted, that land foruse as slag- `dumps is expensive and that the handling and the disposalof waste slags in present smelter practice are costly. The uses of thetubes 4 from the surface to the underground workings are twofold. Theymay be used for the delivery of filling material into the mine-workings,and their manner of use for this purpose must always be governed by thematerial that is used for filling. For instance, if broken rock is usedthe tubes should [i rst be filled with sand or with granulated slagextending from the hopper 5, that stands immediately under its end inthe underground workings, up to the receiving-hopper at its upper end onthe surface. Thereafter crushed rock. cracked slag, and such materialmay be fed into the upper hopper, Vbecause as the material is drawn outbelow in the underground working into a car 6, a carload ata time, fromthe gate 7 in the hopper at the bottom of the tube all of this materialis thus forced to move slowly and gradually downward into the hopper atthe bottom. In this way crushed rock, cracked slag, Sac., maybedelivered into the hopper below without material injury to the tube orto the hopper beyond the ordinary wear and tear incident to such slidingmaterial. If sand or granulated slag is used as filling", it may bedelivered into the upper hopper a shovelful at a time, if desired,because in its flight to the hopper below such material is incapable ofinjuring either the pipe or the bottom hopper. I prefer the lattermethod of procedure because this enables me to leave all of these tubesin a given drift open to the surface. This has the effect of thoroughlyVentilating all parts of the stopes where mining operations are. inprogress, and any one familiar with the difficulties of securing goodventilation in stopes and in upraises will appreciate the importance ofthis feature. As mining-work .progresses and as the regular dip of thevein is followed upward and as the ore contained in the Vein isregularly and systematically mined out from wall to wall it will beapparent that in time the filling underfoot will ultimately reach thepoint where the lower end of the tube will be covered within theunderground workings.

When this point is reached, the tube is extracted by machinery fromabove for reuse,

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and this hole 3 is then filled solidly with granulated slag from thesurface down to the mine-workings as a means of preventing possibleaccident. A new and similar hole 3 is drilled to again intercept theunderground workings, so located as to be as near the foot-wall aspossible in order that its useful ness may thus be prolonged. Each drifton each side of the main cross-cut tunnel is thus operated on a similarsystem. The ore from each drift is dumped from tram-cars as mined into ametallic chute or chutes shown in the drawings, which are preferablylocated every two hundred feet on the drift continuously as themining-work progresses upward, and such ore is continuously withdrawnfrom the hopper or hoppers at the bottom of such chute below by thecarman in the drift. Then the drift has been worked out and all of themineral has thus been extracted from the vein completely to its topsurface or outcrop or as close to the outcrop as the surroundingconditions render it safe to carry the mining operations, fillingmaterial is then packed solidly from the end of such drift at the utmostlimit of the property-line, and such back filling is continued forwardtoward the main cross-cut tunnel. the drift-tunnel to this exhausted andabandoned drift is then walled up at its junctionline with the maincross cut tunnel, and thereafter filling material from above is sentdown through a tube 4, that has been suitably located for the purpose,preferably accompanied with water, so that in this manner it will ll upsolidly the last manway and all remaining spaces in the abandonedworkings. The last tube from the surface into the underground workingswill be quite short, inasmuch as the extraction of mineral in the veinhas presumably been carried to a pointv near the surface. This tube ispurposely located in such position as to facilitate the final filling ofthe last manway and of the underground workings solidly up to the roof.If desired, this last tube may be left in position for a month or two inorder that additional filling material may be delivered through it intothe underground workings, preferably accompanied with water, in case anysettling of the filling material in the underground workings shouldbecome apparent.

In the drawing I show the ore in a drift extracted from the floor-levelof the main cross-cut tunnel up to the ioor on which the screw-jacks,tramway, and the filling-material hopper are resting. This vacant spacehas been subsequently lled with granulated slag up to that level.

The lower portion of the The entrance to upraise is built, preferably,of vitrified brick, and this is filled on its outside surfaces solidlywith granulated slag to each wall of the vein ssure after the ore hasbeen extracted.

I call especial attention to my method of delivering filling materialfrom the surface of the ground into the mine-workings of each separatedrift and onto the various levels as the mining-work progresses. It willbe noted in the drawings that the main tube or chute,

as shown, has been located primarily at its lower end near to thefoot-wall in order that it may be utilized as long as possible as themining-work progresses upward. The drawing shows the lower end of asecond tube as just entering the ore-body. Its location is such that asthe mineral is steadily and continuously extracted upward from the veinand when the available limit of the tube shown as in use has beenreached the mine-workings will already have penetrated the area that canbe served by the second tube. It will be understood that as themine-workings progress upward-say, for instance, to the point where thelower end of the first tube, as shown, would be closed by the fillingmaterial underfoot-this tube or casing is either pulled up from thesurface of the ground to a corresponding extent or it may be unscrewedor cut off within the mine-workings in the event of its becoming boundin the rock from any cause. n

Variations will doubtless suggest themselves in the details of theapparatus without departing from the spirit of my invention, since VhatI claim isl. Apparatus for mining comprising a passage other than themine-shaft extending from the surface of the ground, and a tube thereinfor the passage of filling material; substantially as described.

2. Apparatus for mining comprising a passage other than the mine-shaftextending from the surface of the ground, a tube therein for the passageof filling material. and a hopper at the bottom of the tube;substantially as described.

3. Apparatus for mining comprising a passage other than the mine-shaftextending from the surface of the ground, a tube therein for the passageof filling material, and a gated receiving-hopper beneath the tube;substantially as described.x

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

RALPH BAGGALEY. Witnesses:

AZELLE E. HOBART, WILLIAM M. KIRKPATRICK.

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